May 30, 2022

09:05

MANAUS – “Brazil remains the country that kills more transvestites and transsexuals in the world”, reminds Association of Transvestites, Transsexuals and Transgender Amazonas State (Assotram), after violent death of another transsexual woman in the Amazon. The victim was found on the banks of a creek, at Avenida Theomario Pinto da Costa, Chapada neighborhood, South-Central Zone of Manaus, on Saturday afternoon, 28.

“We express the pain of the Amazonian trans community, in the loss of one more sister as a result of the brutality, discrimination and inhumanity that transgender bodies are treated, not only in Amazonas, but throughout the country. Therefore, we will keep reminding everyone that Brazil is still the country that kills the most transvestites and transsexuals in the world!”, lamented the association through a note released this Sunday morning, 29th.

Moreover, the Association also repudiated the “transphobia of the media” when dealing with transsexual bodies. For it, the attitude of some vehicles, by placing the victim as a ‘man’ and treating her as male, reinforces and demonstrates that “the bodies of transvestites and transsexuals are doubly killed, physically and symbolically.

“The organized civil society repudiates all forms of discrimination and calls attention to the insecurity experienced by transgender people on a daily basis and the transphobia of the media,” rebukes the text that ends with a request for justice and for a speedy investigation.

About the case

According to the forensics team, the body of the unidentified trans woman, approximately 44 years old, had abrasions along her torso, indications that the victim had been dragged to the banks of the creek.

In addition to the marks on the body, the unidentified woman’s skull was sunken, due to possible stoning, leaving several stretches with blood marks. In the report of the Forensic Medical Institute (IML) the cause of death is listed as mechanical asphyxia, drowning, and physical aggression.

Violent deaths

This May, the “Dossier of Deaths and Violence against LGBTQIA+ people in Brazil” points out that, in 2021 alone, 316 LGBTQIA+ people were violently killed in Brazil. According to the analysis, the death rate had an increase of 33.33%, last year, if compared to the year 2020, when the total number of LGBTQIA+ deaths recorded by the Observatory of Deaths and Violence against LGBTQIA+ was 237.

According to the report, every 27 hours, one LGBTQIA+ person was murdered, in Brazil, in 2021. The publication also informs a percentage that identifies the various types of violence against the LGBTQIA+ population. In terms of homicides, the 262 registered cases represent 82.91% of the total; in terms of armed robbery, the 23 cases correspond to 7.28% of the registered cases. When added together, homicides and robberies add up to 90.19% of violent deaths.

In Amazonas, in 2022, at least five crimes against LGBTQIA+ people were registered. According to the Map of Violence, produced by the Trans Observatory, two homicides were registered in Manaus and one attempt was registered in Iranduba, a metropolitan area of the capital. The other two homicides happened in Pará and one in Roraima, in 2022.

The dossier also highlights other data, such as 91 stabbing deaths and 83 firearm deaths, in addition to suicides committed by transvestites and transgender and gay women, reinforcing the negative impacts, directly, on the mental health of the victims, due to discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community. The 26 cases correspond to 8.23% of the deaths.

According to the survey data, 30.38% of the victims are between 20 and 29 years old, 112 victims are black and mixed race, and 127 are white. Slightly more than 48% of the deaths happened at night, that is, 152 cases. By sexual orientation, there were 145 gay men, 141 transvestites and trans women, 13 lesbians, 8 trans men and transmasculine people, 3 bisexuals, 3 other segments not defined, and 4 uninformed who had their lives interrupted.